국내 중소기업의 R&D투자수준 결정요인 분석과 정책함의

This study has sought to the decisive factors that determine the R&D investment intensity of technological innovation by Korean SMEs, as the related academic empirical researches are controversial and the R&D investment of Korean SMEs in the radical technological innovation has shrinked recently. This study use the multiple-regression analysis method. As the dependent variables, the R&D investment intensity and R&D researcher intensity are used. The focused explanatory variables are the firm size, industrial characteristics, business location, export dependancy as business strategy, government's subsidy and firm age. The data concern 2,695 SMEs in the manufacturing sector that invest in R&D, surveyed by Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses (KBIZ) in 2011. The distinctive findings of this study are as follows. Firstly, R&D investment intensity decrease with firm's size, but increase with technological characteristics by industry, locational innovation environment, export dependency, and government's R&D subsidy. In firm's size, it is not due to the strength of small firms, commonly known as flexibility, rapidity, and conductive, but to the significant initial fixed investments, namely the establishment of research building and facilities. Secondly, the R&D investment intensity and the self R&D investment of the SMEs increases with Government's R&D subsidy. In particular it means that Government's R&D subsidy can be the incentive to augment firms' R&D expenditure due to the complimentary effect, not the crowding-out effect. Thirdly, R&D investment intensities in the input stage are used for the technological innovation index. R&D intensity measured by human resources rather than economic or monetary value is more stable, explanatory and robust in econometric estimations.